Apparatus for the coating of steel or other metallic sheets with tin or other metals



June 3, 1941. D. H. DAVIES APPARATUS FOR THE COATING OF STEEL OR OTHER METALLIC SHEETS WITH TIN OR OTHER METALS Filed April 22. 1938 [/7V/7 for .00/70/0 Hump/2n Da l/z'es 3 m, 9 6.

Artur/2 eys' Patented June 3, 1943 APPARATUS FOR THE COATING OF STEEL OR OTHER METALLIC SHEETS WITH TIN OR OTHER METALS Donald Humphrey Davies, Abercarn, England, as-

S or to Richard Thomas & Company Limited, London, England, a British company Application April Q2, 1938, Serial No. 203,590 In Great Britain April 27, .1937

2 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for the coating of steel or other metallic sheets with tin or other metals (hereinafter briefly termed tin) of the kind in which the sheets are propelled over fixed guides through a bath of molten tin, known as the tinpot. The propulsion has usually been effected by pusher forks, operated by hand or mechanically. These forks occasionally damage the sheets.

According to the invention, a series of rolls is arranged to convey the sheets through the tinpot, namely, a pair of feeder rolls, a rotatable roll which takes the place of one of the usual fixed guides, and upper and lower rolls between which the sheet is received from the said rotatable roll and by which it is conveyed on its way to the usual pair of rolls at the exit end 'of the tinpot. The. said upper and lower rolls may be in either plain or disc rolls, or the bottom roll may be plain and the upper roll a disc roll, thus reducing to a minimum the contact of the upper roll with.a sheet, and the surface of the upper roll which it is necessary to keep clean. For the latter purpose, the upper roll is made larger in diameter than the other rolls in the tinpot, so that its surface projects above the level of the molten metal in the tinpot, on top of which floats a layer of palm oil or other suitable grease which by contact with the exposed surface of the large roll keeps it clean. There may be one, two, or more discs per roll. The rolls with their shafts are mounted in the same side frames, so that the frames and rolls can be removed from the tinpot intact, thus facilitating the changing and repair of the rolls. Suitable gearing is provided for the driving of the roll shafts.

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect the same will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 represents a longitudinal vertical section of the tinpot, washpot and greasepot, and Figure 2 is a plan showing the driving gear for the rolls.

A indicates a tinpot which can be arranged for either external or immersion heating, and in which the dotted line C indicates the level of the molten tin; B indicates the washpot; E, F, and G indicate fixed guides, the steel or other metallic sheet passing over the guides E and G and under the guide F and being taken along by the usual pairs of tinpot rolls H, washpot rolls J, and greasepot rolls K, L, M. At the entrance end of the tinpot are provided suitable bearings N for a pair of feeding rolls P, Q, which pass th sheet over a guide roll Rn This latter roll performs the function of a curved extension of the fixed guide E which is used in tinpots of the usual construction, and enables such extension to be eliminated, thus reducing resistance to the travel of the sheet. From the roll R. the sheet passes between additional intermediate rolls S, T, and thence to the usual rolls H. 'Ilhese rolls S, T, may be plain or disc rolls, but the arrangement which is considered preferable is that the upper roll S is provided with relatively large discs S (see Figure 2). The feeding rolls P, Q, may also be provided with discs P Q to reduce the contact area between these rolls and the sheet.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In an apparatus for coating metallic sheets with metal, the combination of a bath for containing molten metal, a pair of feed rolls disposed above the level of the molten metal in the bath, a single guide roll disposed in the bath of molten material for passage thereover from between said feed rolls of a sheet to be coated with a minimum of friction, a fixed guide member disposed adjacent the bottom of said bath, a pair of intermediate guide rolls disposed between said fixed guide member and said single guide roll for directing the sheet to be coated from said single guide roll to said fixed guide member, the upper of said pair of intermediate guide rolls comprising spaced disks to minimize surf-ace contact with the sheet to be coated and of larger diameter than the lowermost roll to project above the level of the molten metal in the bath so as to be cleaned by a surface film of oil in said bath, and a pair of discharge rolls disposed adjacent the opposite end of said fixed guide member for conveying and directing the coated metallic sheets from the bath.

2. In an apparatus for coating metallic sheets with metal, the combination of a bath for containing molten metal, a pair of feed rolls disposed above the level of the molten metal in the bath, a single guide roll disposed in the bath of molten material for passag thereover from between said feed rolls of a-sheet to be coated with a minimum offriction, a fixed guide member disposed adjacent the bottom of said bath, a pair of intermediate guide rolls disposed between said fixed guide member and said single guide roll for directing the sheet to be coated from said single guide roll to said fixed guide member, said single guide roll being disposed by a surface film of oil in said bath, a pair 0 discharge rolls disposed adjacent the opposite end of said fixed guide member for conveying and directing the coated metallic sheets from the bath, and removable side frame members in said bath in which'the axes of all of said rolls are journaled to permit their removal and replacement as a unit relative to said bath.

DONALD HUMPHREY DAVIES. 

